So the other day I thought to play around with Tumblr to learn about its services post acquisition. I signed up (from an Indian IP address), to create a new blog and found the place to be lonely. Tumblr offered me some blogs to follow, which I presume are popular. (Something very similar to twitter).

But, I didnt get what was the obvious. The Amitabh Bachchan’s blog is not featured in Tumblr’s suggestion engine. It should have been featured, not only because of his super-stardom celebrity status, but because he’s got a very popular blog. Amitabh Bachchan is one of the most active blogger in India and the world. He’s been blogging regularly, everyday, posted more than 3000 articles for more than 6 years. On the next screen, upon deliberately searching for his blog by typing his name (yes, with spelling mistake, which most of us misspell Bacchan) I found no results. Surprisingly “NO RESULT” for ‘Amitabh Bacchan’. Shame on you, Tumblr!
Amitabh Bachchan, aka SrBachchan had to move from BiggAdda when it discontinued the blogging service. Tumblr ‘won’ Blog of Amitabh Bacchan and migrated old posts & images, when BiggAdda stopped its blogging service. Tumblr should be grateful that Sr. Bachchan uses its platform for blogging, which otherwise is non-existent in India compared to prominent blogging platform, BlogSpot (& WordPress). Not only this gives free publicity and advertising to the Tumblr but also gives a strong message of recommendation as SrBachchan is using this blogging platform.

Recently, Mr. Bachchan clarified on blog about the 65 crore ‘gold-plated thali’ controversy. & I had a good laugh on how India.com manipulates the stories to create a buzz.

I wanted to write a review (and I have) about the unique game called “Ramayan Wars- the ocean leap” on iTunes app store despite I posted it successfully, it disappears in air! How? So I’m posting it here where I control what to publish.
Ramayan Wars is a premium game with 3rd person 3D perspective and HD graphics available for Android and iOS devices (and works great on tablets)

First of all, this is not just a game. It’s more of telling a story and experiencing the ‘Ramayana’ and being part of it. After finishing the boss, when you enter into Lanka, you feel like you’re there with Hanuman. Great cinematography, HD graphics, and overall a good experience.
Although ‘the game’ is tough to finish but it’s well worth the time & efforts. It’s a 3rd person, 3D game where you play as Hanuman, Maruti and starts your journey from India the take the ocean’s leap to land of Lanka. The game has variety of levels and environments right from esophagus and intestine/abdomen of the demon to the beaches of India and Lanka. The difficulty level increases as you come closer to finishing the game and just like any other game this one has a technique to play which if you master, you’ll be able to kill the boss. Although the game lacks puzzles but as I said earlier it’s not just a game. If you want pure gaming, go buy other games for $8.
It’s a must buy game for anyone who wants to learn /tell the story of Ramayan. It’s good starting point for the Indian parents (especially NRIs) who want to introduce Ramayan to their kids. The game is set on SunderKand, when Hanuman realises his true enormous power, takes big leap across the Indian Ocean to land in the Lanka to deliver the Ram’s message to Sita. Oh! What a wonderful story of Ramayan I get goosebumps even while typing this. You can relate to it if you read the Ramayana. If you’ve not, here’s the good reference point to get you started .

HOMP fame duo, Rocky and Mayur, the host of NDTV Goodtimes’ TV show “Highway on my Plate (aka HOMP)” have been running food and travel series and covered all corners of India. These guys fool around on TV, try some poor poetry, make fun and pull each others’ leg while traveling and eating at thela, dhaba, college canteens, and restaurants across the nation. Unlike other TV show anchors/models whose only skill is ‘looking good in front of camera’, the HOMP duo are smart and full of talent. You know this for sure when you see them on one of the TED (TEDx) videos.

And you wont take them seriously until you read their brief bio (below):

Introducing the Highwaymen

Mayur Sharma believes that life is about finding your special gift and sharing it with the world. He loves red wine, paneer, ice-cream, and gaajar halwa all of which taste best when shared with someone. An avid bookworm, wildlife enthusiast, passionate rock climber, and mountain trekker, Mayur is always ready to dive into anything for a laugh.

Mayur Sharma (left) and Rocky Singh

Mayur is based out of Delhi and the ‘out of Delhi’ is so true. He is an outdoor experiential educator and works with children and corporate clients in developing interpersonal relationships and productive group dynamics. An avid traveller Mayur has lived, worked, played, backpacked his way across over 65 countries in the past decade before returning home to the best food in the world. A keen sportsman he plays squash and enjoys rock climbing and high altitude trekking. Mayur has climbed Kilimanjaro and survived an unexpected swim in the Tsunami of 2004 but finds the adventures on the highways of India just as exciting.

Rocky Singh is 38 years old and married with two kids. After running a restaurant, gas distributorship, working with British Airways and finally heading a multinational as the CEO, Rocky retired in 2005. He is now an internationally certified consultant in HR and business process fields and works as the GM for a corporate training organisation. Rocky is a wild life enthusiast and an ornithologist (bird-man), scuba dive master, single handicap golfer and traveler. His passion is food and traveling. His mantra “The difference between a wise man and a fool is that a wise man will learn, even from the fool.”
‘Make food not war’ is the mantra that drives Rocky Singh. His passion for Indian street food has taken him across the country and the world. He spent five years travelling through India’s amazing foodscape for pleasure and another four for Highway on my plate”. A junior national hokey player, state level boxer, and footballer, he now scubadives across the globe and indulges in his passion for street food and travel. He lives in Delhi with his wife , daughter, and son. He believes that life, like food is best when it’s shared. So pass around some and love and joy! He always comes back for seconds. 🙂